The Weeknd and Playboi Carti’s “Timeless” entered the Hot 100 top 10 during the week of October 12, 2024. It features a lengthy 32-second, eight-bar intro, nearly 20 seconds longer than the Hot 100 top 10 average in the first three quarters of the year.
Helping to maintain listener interest throughout its lengthy runtime is the expert use of the Hit Songs Deconstructed “Multipart” intro technique. This technique segments the intro into multiple distinct parts, serving a variety of purposes. While it hasn’t been widely used in Hot 100 top 10 hits over the past decade (roughly one-quarter of songs), it is common in The Weeknd’s body of work, with nearly 40% of his songs employing it.
What follows is an exploration of how “Timeless” uses the Multipart technique across its two distinct intro segments and what it achieves both within the intro and in the context of the full song.
Intro Segment 1 (Bars 1-4)
The first segment of the intro consists of a hazy, morphing synth soundscape, synth bass, and unintelligible, atmospheric vocal embellishments from The Weeknd. Together, these elements serve several key purposes:
- Unique Calling Card: Leading off with an atmospheric, hazy soundscape - one of The Weeknd’s signature sounds - fosters instant familiarity with listeners, helping the song easily cut through airwave clutter and grab attention. This quality has been present in a slew of The Weeknd’s other Hot 100 top 10 hits, including “Can’t Feel My Face” (2015), “Starboy” (2016), “Call Out My Name” (2018), and “Blinding Lights” (2020).
- Vibe Establishment: Segment 1’s qualities also establish a foreboding, in-the-ether vibe, which sets the tone for some of the narrative’s darker aspects that follow, such as “I pull that gun off the hip, pockets hold twenty-two clips,” “Them drums finna hit, I’m feelin’ ill,” and “If I was you, I would cut up my wrist.”
Subscribers can discover what else the “Multipart” intro technique achieves both within the intro and throughout the song by clicking here.
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